The United States is not going to the London Olympics this summer because of a crushing 3-3 draw with El Salvador in a regional qualifying match Monday night. This is a huge disappointment for a nation that aspires to be a top-15 contender in the world, based on GNP and population than on expertise.The junior edition of the national team coughed up a chance to advance toward London in the final seconds Monday night when the defense allowed a hard 20-yard shot and the keeper let it get through him – a disaster all around.But really the game got away a few minutes earlier when Caleb Porter, the new coach of the Under-23 squad, removed Freddy Adu.Oh, sure, take out your best player in a must-win match. Adu was a man among boys in the second half, making two deft assists on clutch goals, and controlling the ball with the feints and dribbling and passes that he demonstrated as a child.Freddy is still only 22, but he has been around forever, and looked it on Monday. However, the new coach took him off in the third minute of an announced four-minute added time.To be fair, Porter had valid reasons for the move. One is that a substitution can kill more than the 30 seconds the ref will add to his stopwatch. The other is that Adu had just been shown a yellow card for doing absolutely nothing to a desperate Salvadoran player, and Porter did not want to take a chance of Adu getting another yellow and missing the next game.But it was a bad move as soon as Adu started to trudge off the field (to kill seconds, as any professional will do.) I second-guessed the coach while it happened. Don't do it. Freddy was the indispensable player on that sparse team.Now there will not be a next match. Salvador and Canada are moving on to the semifinal round. The U.S. will not be in London.This is a jolt to a country that seems to be poaching players from the fringe of the German youth system, young men with an American parent. After decades of youth programs, this is where the U.S. is?The paucity of talent (and smarts, and desire) on the field Monday is a condemnation of the club system in the U.S. – players coming up through local programs, always doing what Coach tells them, without developing a mean streak.That willingness to do anything – throw sneak elbows, flop dramatically, claw for the ball – two Yanks said they were bitten on Monday – was evident in the Salvador players. They have played street soccer; they have played empty-field soccer. They go for blood. They may also go to London.The U.S. team showed no experience while flubbing possessions in the final minutes. As a result, keeper Sean Johnson, in the match only because of injury, had to field a hard last-gasp shot that took a nasty bounce and handcuffed him. Anybody watching the match in person or on the tube might have cringed at Johnson's utter failure, and felt sorry for him. But keep in mind, keepers are only supposed to be the last resort. Many goals are not their fault. In such a low-scoring sport, if the ball is near the goal, other things have gone wrong on defense, first. Back to the latest development program. Freddy Adu, once over-hyped as the great Ghanaian-born hope, could have avoided all that horror with one possession, one time-wasting maneuver, one chip into the far end of the field. But Freddy was on the bench. And now, so is the United States.End it.

I was struck by the complete situational unawareness of the entire squad and coaches. Diskerud hoofed clearance balls without purpose and generally right back to ES. Shea looked lost in the final minutes. No one seemed to appreciate the need to close down the shooter. The coaches seemed to believe a 4-3-3 was the best formation for killing the game. The bench, coaches and trainers, believed that a goalie could defend on one ankle. The backline left players unmarked. Finally substituting Gyau for Adu made little to no sense, particularly with Williams and Jeffrey on the bench. Did Porter really expect a Gyau breakaway?
After reflecting on the game, it was more surprising that the US held a lead rather than ES managed to tie.

Reply

airubin@verizon.net

03/31/2012 4:06pm

George,

I did not see the game, so my comments relate to only to your post.

There were several things that I found troubling about USA’s Under-23 team's 3-3 tie with El Salvador. How does a coach remove his most experienced player with one minute remaining in stoppage time? Although Coach Caleb Porter may have had valid reasons for his decision, what could have been so urgent with so little time left? Did he consider what effect the substitution would have had upon the team? Also, what will his relationship with Freddy Ado be going forward?

It does not take much to effect a team’s chemistry. I’m a volunteer goalie coach for the McCann Technical High School boys’ soccer team in North Adams, MA. Their varsity program is only three years old and they have a young coach. They won the Mass Vocational school championship in their first season and qualified for the Western Mass Division 3 playoffs the first two years. They needed a win in their final game this past season to qualify. At mid-season, they had a very poor record, only two wins, and their chances of qualifying for the Western Mass tournament seemed hopeless. At a team meeting they were asked how they wanted to define their season. Were they going to finish by going through the motions or were they going to play to the best of their abilities, win or lose?

Although traditions are not developed in only three seasons, McCann had shown the character of never quitting. In their final must win game, they twice over came one goal deficits to take the lead with ten minutes left. It was exciting to share the team’s excitement when they scored the go ahead goal. Shortly after, their star defender was injured by a flagrant foul that forced him out of the game. What should have been a red card did not even draw a foul. The team was clearly upset and agitated during the injury timeout. The coach tried to calm them down and to refocus, but to no avail. A different team gave up two quick goals to end their season. To their credit, they pressed hard and several last minute shots hit the posts.

This was a long way of saying that Coach Calib Porter messed with the team’s chemistry to the detriment of the team.

I agree with your assessment of Freddy Adu. It is a credit to him that he has recovered from the early circus of his young career to develop into a talented and mature player who should be an asset in the years to come.

It is interesting that you commented on feeling sorry for the goalie Sean Johnson. I’m working on the goal tending sections of my educational soccer web site and you touched upon several things that I have addressed. I’ve taken the liberty to include a few exerts:

“Goalies rarely believe that they were responsible for goals scored against them. For the most part, this is correct as defensive lapses prior to the scoring shot are usually the cause. Obviously, goalies are not perfect and goals can be due to their error or misjudgment.
Before you view some examples of several examples of poor goal tending, I want to discuss the USA's goal against Britain in the 21010 World Cup’s group play."

Did Britain's Goalie Green Really Blunder??

"Green was vilified for giving up an easy goal in a 1-0 loss to the USA. Ultimately, the USA advanced and Britain was eliminated at the end of the knockout round. I have a different take on "Green's Blunder”. Goalies are instructed to keep their arms parallel with the palms turned in on most saves. Balls that are low are usually scooped up. In all instances the ball is cradled to the chest for complete control.

Goalies follow shots from the instant they are launched. Sudden changes in the anticipated trajectory can throw their timing off. An especially tricky example of this is straight on shots that take a last second bounce, much like the short hop that often leads to infielder errors in baseball. The field (pitch) was wet and Green had to quickly react to a ball that bounced twice, the second one about two feet in front of him. It is difficult to see in the video below, but in one of the instant replays during the game Green's right hand was bent out slightly. The ball was deflected off of this hand. Should Green have made the save--probably! The point is that it was not as easy a save as most people believed."

Every member of the Goalie’s union truly believes that goals are never their fault. Obviously, this is not 100% correct but all the errors are duly noted and remembered. I can only think of one goal that was my fault during the ten years that I played between Junior HS and graduate school.

All the errors and miscalculations that do not lead to scores are forever sealed in the Goalie’s Sacred Lucky Vault.

I have to admit that I did not watch the game but I am coming to agree with you about the failure of the club system to produce the great idividual players that the game requires for success at the highest level.

Reply

Kris Venezia

04/02/2012 7:04pm

Hey George, you spoke at my school (Fordham) recently, and I really liked this article. The US couldn't hold possession at midfield in the final seconds, and with Freddy I think the turnover doesn't happen. You referenced the fact that the youth system promotes players listening to coaches, and with more academies being established in America, street soccer will become even more scarce. My other worry is that I feel as if CONCACAF is getting stronger. The MLS was meant to push soccer in the US, but I think it has also promoted soccer in Canada (look at attendance figures for Toronto, Vancover, and Montreal). Would you agree that CONCACAF is getting better while the US is declining?

Who is George Vecsey and why is it said that yanks lost because adu was benched? I am new to this page and have no information regarding it. I want to know more so if anyone can help it would be great.

This post is very simple to read and appreciate without leaving any details out. Great work! You completed certain reliable points there. I did a search on the subject and found nearly all persons will agree with your blog.

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